Ludwick’s blast saves Cardinals

Ryan Ludwick hit his 28th home run of the year with one on and one out in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 6-4 after blowing a four run lead in the ninth.

Chris Carpenter was in line for the win after pitching five brillant innings of shut out ball, where he allowed just three hits while striking out two. The Cardinals scored first in the bottom of the fifth and then added another run in the sixth before Albert Pujols gave the Cards a four run cushion with a two run blast.

In the ninth, reliever Ron Villone gave up a home run to Andruw Jones and Tony LaRussa went to Jason Isringhausen to close the game. Instead, it was another disaster for the closer.

After getting the first out, Izzy gave up two straight singles then walked Manny Ramirez to load the bases. James Loney hit a soft roller down the third base line that Izzy couldn’t handle making the score 4-2. Jeff Kent then singled home another run and that was it for Isringhausen.

Ryan Franklin gave up a sac fly and the game was tied at 4. For Isringhausen, he went a third of an inning, giving up four hits, a walk, and three runs and while Franklin gets hit with his seventh blown save, that really should have gone to Izzy.

After the game LaRussa and GM John Mozeliak comment on Izzy and I get the feeling he’s on a short leash and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was released. You can hear the frustration in Mozeliak’s voice.

What’s hard to overlook is the job Carpenter is doing. He now has an ERA of 1.00 and has pitched well enough to have two wins under his belt.